


Facing the Truth

by ViridianK



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Again there is more Angst., Angst, Angst from Hell, Chris can't face Piers, Crying, Did I Mention Angst?, Don't blame me If you can't handle the Angst, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enough Angst tags yet?, Extra Angst, M/M, Metaphorical Weather, More angst, Nivanfield, Piers is in the hospital, Post RE6, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 12:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViridianK/pseuds/ViridianK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic was MOSTLY inspired by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al2DFQEZl4M.<br/>Just as Chris had to, Face the truth when you need to, you might just get a better ending than most people.</p><p>http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ladyantebellum/helloworld.html lyrics are here.<br/>   Went through and Edited stuff if you see a messed up word please let me know</p>
    </blockquote>





	Facing the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was MOSTLY inspired by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al2DFQEZl4M.  
> Just as Chris had to, Face the truth when you need to, you might just get a better ending than most people.
> 
> http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ladyantebellum/helloworld.html lyrics are here.  
>  Went through and Edited stuff if you see a messed up word please let me know

           

**Facing the Truth**

 

_"We may have moments in which we fear to face the truth, but we always need to do it, no matter what might happen. Just realize that when you finally are facing the truth, you may be getting a better ending then what other people were allotted in life."_

 

 

 

             It’s been a while to say the least, but Chris could never really admit just how long it had been since everything came spiraling back to him. He’s been trying to avoid it, just try not to deal with the everlasting evidence of his failure as a man, as a Captain, as a _friend_ , and as a **_lover_**. The failure that everything he did, he had been doing out of rage, and only at the very end, when it was all too late for someone he had once held so dear, did he try to change his actions for the better. But karma is a bitch, and this time it decided to hit him with a cold ugly truth, and truth hurts, but the only reason it hurts is because it can show you just how wrong you were. Chris knows he was wrong, he wishes he could have changed it, that’s another reason why he’s been avoiding everything that’s been going on, no matter how much people like Jill or Claire, sometimes even Leon or Sherry, tried to get him to face it.

            He just wouldn’t, it’s not that he didn’t _want_ to face it, god he wished he had the strength to face it without probably breaking down all over the place trying to apologize. That’s even how he found himself in his current predicament, ready to slam on the gas the first chance he gets when he is out of traffic. Sherry _and_ Claire tried to come over and convince him to go visit, he said he wouldn’t do it. They kept pressuring him and trying to dig down and find out why, he finally yelled some half assed excuse and grabbed his keys, out the door while Sherry and Claire looked at him with their mouths hanging open, unbelieving of the thickheaded Chris Redfield they had known for so long.

            Chris cursed and honked on his horn again, wishing to anyone up in the sky that would listen that this traffic would just _hurry up_ and move, unlike what his life has been doing the last several weeks. It seems like this traffic is trying to tell him what his life is like, one big cluster fuck that isn’t going anywhere, _won’t_ be going anywhere, until something changes, and it had better change soon. Chris sighed, dropping his head forward onto the steering wheel, trying for god knows how many times to drive these insane, soul crushing thoughts from his head.

 ** _*It was all my fault, every last one of them. And what the hell do they want me to do,_** apologize ** _to him? What the hell is that going to do other than just be another reminder that I fucking failed everyone I cared about.*_**

            Chris sighed again, jumping and cursing when his felt his phone buzz and a loud ring filled the car. He moved ever so slightly before picking up the phone, traffic was going slow but it was going, maybe it wasn’t trying to be an example of his screwed up life after all. Chris looked at the caller I.D. It was Sherry, _again_ ¸ this might be the fifteenth time since he left his house that he had been called by her. Chris thought about shutting his phone off for a moment, but something in him told him not to do it. He can’t explain why, he just had this _feeling_ that for once in his life he should take the initiative to actually _listen_ to someone _else_ , rather than just assuming he knows what he’s doing. He’s had enough of that lately, _thinking_ he knows what he’s doing, even though it ends up costing everyone else in the end.

**_*This just in on your local hit music station, special news report. Channel five has just confirmed that one of the survivors from China was the one who destroyed a huge monster that could have ended the world as we know it. Nobody has been allowed to see this person, not even an interview has been granted for the people taking care of him. But one thing is for certain listeners, our boys are still out there fighting the good fight, give them a wave if you see one of them for us alright?*_ **

            Chris snorted, _survivors_ , as if there was really anyone left after what that monster did in China. Taking so many civilians, so many B.S.A.A. and everyone else, that was another thing Chris was a complete failure at. Keeping his men. That woman, Ada Wong was right, he had a horrible fucking track record, a record that seemed to break every time he started to care about someone else. But now, his record wasn’t broken, it was just cracked, cracked in so many places it’s amazing that it hasn’t just shattered into a million pieces. One piece would be bigger than all the rest, because that is the one piece that is just cracked, not broken, not joining one of the million other pieces showing every record he’s broken and is going to break before he dies in some horrible way from fighting bio-terrorism. Chris sighed one more time, deciding to finally answer the phone call from Sherry.

_“ **What** , Sherry?”_

Her voice was stern, but still understanding of his predicament. _“ **Chris** , you can’t just avoid him for the rest of your life. I know it was hard on you, hell, it was hard on me and Jake too when we thought he was dead, I mean he saved our **lives** for crying out loud. But you Chris, why are you trying to avoid him so much, I mean you’ve been outside his **room** for crying out loud! Why can’t you just take that extra step and go through the door, you might find him more forgiving then what you are letting yourself believe.”_

            Chris remained silent for a moment, running a hand through his hair while watching traffic, just **_trying_** to come up with something to tell Sherry to get her off his back. He considered hanging up, trying to just ignore her, maybe she would stop eventually. Then again, this was **_Sherry_** we are talking about, she doesn’t just “give up” she hounds you until she gets what she wants, there is no way in heaven or hell Chris could get out of this.

**_*Remember one more time listeners, you see any soldiers out there, you give them a wave from us, let them know that people appreciate everything they do.*_ **

            Chris scanned traffic again while trying to think of something to tell Sherry. It would be amazing for him if someone opened up a spot in traffic for him to squeeze into, then maybe he would feel like his life was actually going somewhere instead of trying to walk backwards on a treadmill. Out of the corner of his eye Chris saw a van that for some odd reason just seemed to stand out from the crowd. It wasn’t glamorous, it wasn’t amazing or anything like that, it was just some beat up old crappy van that looked like it was a hundred years old. Something that was past its time, past its prime, maybe it held even more regrets and horrible memories than Chris had. That was doubtful though, few people had as many issues as Chris Redfield did, seen and unseen, his wounds ran deeper than some people would ever know.

            Chris kept his eyes trained on that van, the darkening sky from the onset of night making it harder to see through his window even though the lights of traffic were keeping the world brighter than his life had seemed the past weeks. Chris saw a little girl through a window of the van, she was smiling and eating a chocolate ice-cream cone, and for some reason, Chris found himself smiling. Whatever this little girl was doing, it seemed to bring a momentary reprieve from the gloom and mire that was bogging up Chris’ ever spiraling life. He saw her trying to hold the ice cream cone, then he saw whom he assumed was her older brother helping her with it. That brought an even longer ghostly hint of a smile to Chris’ face. Sherry almost started up on the phone again, but she stopped after she heard a sigh from Chris, not knowing if she should push him or not.

Sherry almost sounded nervous after Chris stayed silent for another good thirty seconds, wondering if he was ignoring her. _“C-Chris, are you there?”_

            Chris stayed silent, watching the little girl laugh with her brother smiling next to her. Things used to be so simple when they were younger, but ever since 1998 everything got worse and worse, year by year, until one day, their sins would catch up with them and they would be dragged down into whatever hell awaited them.

**_*One more time listeners, if you see a soldier or someone who looks like they have something they want to stop regretting, just give them a wave, a smile, let them know there are people that understand in the world. Let them know that no matter what, you might always be able to seek redemption.*_ **

            The little girl turned, seemingly of some otherworldly purpose that she somehow found her gaze locked on Chris’ face. She smiled, and waved, earning a confused look from Chris. Her brother tapped her shoulder; she turned and looked at him, doing something to make him laugh. He asked her a question, and then he turned, looked right at Chris, and even smiled himself. Something about that smile was infectious, he felt like he’s known that smile in his life, but it’s been long gone and buried underneath years of turmoil and heartache. Then suddenly, as Chris watched, the minivan disappeared from his sight, and the last thing he saw of it was the boy and his sister smiling at him, the girl wearing a distinguishing red ponytail.

Sherry almost sounded frightened this time trying to get Chris to talk. _“Chris… seriously this isn’t funny are you there?”_

            Chris looked ahead in traffic, the turn lane was completely empty, but the way forward to his house was still bogged down with traffic that would probably take him hours to get through. Chris decided that today, among anything that he could possibly do, he was going to **_make_** his life move. _He_ was going to **_make_** the change. Chris jerked the wheel to the left and got into the turn lane, just waiting a few more agonizing moments for the light to turn green so that he could get on with his life. Get on with something he could have done weeks ago, something he still wasn’t sure if he could bear to do himself, hopefully it wouldn’t be too much to handle right? After all, it was someone’s own choice that brought him to where he was today, still alive and breathing, would they really be harboring a grudge after everything that happened?

            Chris still had a ghost of a smile on his face when he answered Sherry, mimicking the ghost of an unknown memory that he had just witnessed in front of his face. Chris kept his eyes on the light, today he might just be flooring it the second the light changed. The light changed, and the roar of Chris’ engine could be heard even into the phone, something that completely perplexed Sherry to her very core.

_“Sherry… I’m coming…”_

            Chris heard an audible gasp through the phone. The next thing he knew there was a new person on the other end of the phone. A voice he was not expecting to hear call him by Captain or Chris ever again, just by bastard, or failure, or dozens of other things that should and probably would be said to him.

_“C-Captain?”_

            Chris’ hand and face froze at that name. He wasn’t worthy of being called anyone’s Captain anymore, not after everything he had gone and fucked up on, not after everyone he had led to their deaths. He was still haunted by the faces of the parents that he met as a token of respect to his fallen soldiers. The look on the face of Finn’s mother, a woman all alone in the world, and she had lost the only thing left that gave her joy, a spark of light that even brought cheer to the long forgotten Alpha Team. But forgotten is a loose term for Chris these days, they may have been forgotten by the rest of the world, but that team would **_never_** be forgotten to him. They haunted his dreams and nightmares every day and night, every moment of rest he has he spends thinking of them, thinking of the team he had in China, thinking of what could have happened had he done something different, maybe every single one of them could still be alive today.

            Chris dropped the phone, letting it crash and clink to the floor of his vehicle. He froze after hearing the voice he had never expected to have a friendly tone in it ever again, almost longing to hear Chris’ own voice, a voice he had been struggling to use all night. He didn’t reach for it or pick it back up, he just stared at the screen. Piers was there… _Piers_ still called him _Captain_ … but why? What he was worth to Piers that after everything that had happened, he would still find him worthy of being called Captain. Captain of death maybe… Captain of broken promises could fit as well… maybe even Captain of fucking of jobs. He did that a lot, he told the men once it was his job to see that they all made it out of their missions alive, even if they were ready to die for the cause. He fucked that job up good, almost every single one of them died, after he had _promised_ that they would get out _alive_ , they all died.

            Chris sighed, _again_ , it was getting harder and harder to want to follow this feeling through the longer the night went on. He didn’t deviate from his path however, he was going to see this night through to the end even if it broke him even more on the inside. He rushed down the street, people, cars, and lights rushing by quicker than those final moments before everything started to deteriorate itself. Before he was sent away, sent away so that he could _live_ , and live he did, even if it was mostly spent wallowing in the gloom of his mind.

            Chris started rushing down the street even faster, the hospital was in sight and his life was appearing to fly before his eyes, hundreds of possibilities of what could happen after tonight was over. Chris could still hear the voices coming through the phone, still calling his name as if he still had the will and choice to respond. The only thing they heard as a response, screeching tires as Chris slammed on the breaks to park outside the hospital. The phone went silent, he picked it up and ended the call, not caring what kind of grief that might bring him from Sherry or Claire or anyone else.

            Chris pushed the doors to the hospital open, the night being filled with just the last few strands of people visiting their loved ones. The hospital’s “normal” visiting hours were over, now it was just those people that were here because their loved ones were dying and didn’t have very much time left. Chris doesn’t know which category he belonged in… maybe a little bit of both, maybe they should have made a new category specifically for him, *Facing your Failure* that would fit him perfectly.

            Chris started towards the room that he has been dreading every day since a sliver of hope was brought back into his life, a sliver that he decided to let fester and grow into a knife rather than a beacon of hope. Every step, every thought, brought nothing but a growing pain to his mind. Every step seemed to grow slower, heavier, more burdened than he had ever felt in his life, and all he was trying to do was to finally look one man in the face again without wanting to turn around.

            Chris finally found the door and put his hand on it to push it open, but something held him back. It felt as if he was on strings controlling a puppet, and he wasn’t really the puppet master, just the puppet to be controlled to the master’s content. Chris was saved by an angel that decided to open the door for him, rather than the demon living inside him. He was greeted by Sherry’s surprised yet sweet face, trying to beckon him into the room. He just stood in the doorway, watching Piers on his bed.

            He was still covered in bandages from head to toe, save for the left eye that they left alone so that he could at least _see_ the world, even if he might never be able to feel it again. Sherry waved in his face, but he didn’t seem to register it, he just kept staring at the seemingly broken form of the sniper he had once cherished, but was now seemingly unmoving.

            Chris caught a slight flicker in movement in the eye as Sherry said his name. Chris couldn’t see much past the bandaging and scarring, just the one hazel colored eye that seemed to light up with a tiny spark at the mere mention of Chris’ name. It looked like Piers was trying to move, maybe even trying to _smile_ beneath all that bandaging. What could he have to smile at Chris for, Chris was the _reason_ he was like this, the reason everyone else seemed to die around them day by day, year by year, mission by mission.

_“C-Captain… hey.”_

            Piers tried to lift a hand to wave at Chris, and that’s when he couldn’t take it anymore. Chris saw the light in his eyes, that same respect and admiration that seemed to follow Piers wherever he went, no matter how bad things got. Chris couldn’t take that, couldn’t _understand_ that, and it almost killed him when he saw the look in Piers’ eye change. It seemed like Chris was probably wearing a face that scared the sniper to his very core, one of those rare moments that you could actually see past every kind of façade he would think to put up. _That_ is when you knew things were either really bad, or really good, or a mixture of both, when you could **_easily_** read the sniper.

            Chris turned around and walked back out of the door, ignoring the searing gaze burning into his back as he did so. He heard some kind of protest from Sherry, felt her hand quickly reach up and grab his shoulder to try and stop him. He ripped the hand away, almost running out of the hospital. He’s been doing a lot of running lately, running from almost anything that would remind him of the kind of failure he had been. Running from his problems, his friends, his family, hell even his _lieutenant_ , and he seemed to be the only person left that really believed in Chris anymore.

           

 

 

            Sherry almost yelled in frustration, shutting the door as calmly as she could even though Chris had just _walked away, **again**_ , from the one person that might be able to make him understand things more clearly. She walked back over to Piers, hiding her face from him because she knew just how easy it was for _him_ to read other people. People to Piers were like an open book, and Sherry just hoped to whatever god was out there right now that he wasn’t able to read Chris. That’s what scared her most of all, that Piers saw what was on Chris’ face in that doorway, and the repercussions of what that could do to Piers horrified her to no end.

            She took a seat down next to Piers’ bed, the small portion of his visible face being basked in the soft light of the hospital’s lights. She tried to look him in the face but Piers wasn’t looking at her, he was staring at a spot on the wall, zoned out, and for all intents and purposes Sherry could only assume that he was thinking about Chris. She was probably right, why _wouldn’t_ he be thinking about Chris? Chris had just been looking through a one-way window for _weeks_ then he finally comes in to see Piers and he just **_walked out_** , walked out like this was another problem he was trying to leave behind.

            Sherry put a hand on Piers’ bandaged arm, immediately drawing a curious gaze from his eye. She sighed and rubbed her thumb in a circle on the top of his hand as she slid her palm down. She tried to think of something to say to him, try to comfort him, let him know everything was alright, maybe Chris was just little _too_ overwhelmed at the sight.

_“Piers, I… I’m sorry he left, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him so hard to try and visit you… this is all my fault.”_

            Piers sighed, keeping his eye on her. Sherry knew she didn’t need to see his whole face to know what was probably going through his head right now. **_*I’m a monster, he doesn’t trust me anymore, I’m a burden to him, he doesn’t want to see me.*_** and probably a thousand other things that she couldn’t even begin to fathom that would be going through Piers’ head at the mere thought of Chris running away from him.

_“Piers… it will be alright, trust me he will come back it just… it might take some time.”_

            Piers mumbled something that Sherry could barely hear. She continued rubbing her thumb in a slow circle on Piers’ hand, human touch seemed to be the only thing that could keep him together after Chris walked out. She pulled her chair closer to the bed and Piers relaxed a little bit, letting his head fall slowly onto her shoulder. Sherry almost cracked a smile, if only she could completely understand the feeling of what Piers was going through right now.

_“How much time… Sherry…?”_

            Sherry looked down at Piers, he had his eye still fixed on her. Sherry had a feeling that eye wouldn’t leave her until she walked out of the room. She wasn’t going to though, she was going to make sure Piers had someone in the room for him until she was forced out of the room against her will. Sherry sighed, a tear of frustration started to run its way down the side of her cheek that Piers could not see.

_“I don’t know Piers, I just don’t… I’m sorry… maybe you should try and get some sleep okay? I know everything has been hard on you and I promise I will try and get Chris to come back, and actually **stay** next time, alright?”_

            Piers sighed, removing his head from Sherry’s shoulder to lean back onto his bed, finding little comfort in the softness of his pillow. Nothing seemed to give him comfort anymore except for the little things Sherry did for him. The rubbing of his hand, letting him rest his head on her shoulder, just little things that a lot of people never really asked for when they had problems but just _wanted_ them, or just another person to make them feel like someone cares. He closed his eyes, wishing for all the world that when he wakes up Chris would be there watching him, just waiting for him to wake up and make everything better.

            Sherry sighed to herself watching Piers go to sleep. Even with just that small bit of his face visible, the pain was so obvious that it almost broke her inside, it made her want to go grab Chris and drag him a thousand miles if need be just to make him sit in this damn room and _talk_ to Piers. Talk about all the things they went through, the things that were bugging Chris about coming into this room, just talk about _why_ because that seemed to be the only thing keeping Chris back. All the whys in his questions seemed to build a bridge between him and Piers that Sherry wasn’t sure would ever be completely finished and crossable, that maybe they would either keep ending up falling into the water, or the bridge would never end.

            She got up as Piers sighed and closed his eye, hopefully he would wake up and everything would be better, at least for a time. She looked out the window; the sky darkening at it approached midnight, and the lightning dancing across the sky like moths to a flame. The rain seemed to be coming down as well, heaven weeping at the frailty of one of her most beloved soldiers, how broken he seemed to be after another soldier wouldn’t even speak to him. Sherry held a hand to her head, a headache starting to form after everything that had happened already tonight. She saw a momentary reflection in the window, and when she looked at it, it was something that not even all the tears from heaven could wash away. Piers had a tear of his own, wetting the white linen bandages that had been wrapped and rewrapped around him for weeks to try and help him heal.

            Sherry sighed, _again_ , and pulled out her phone, just _maybe_ Chris would have tried to send her something. She hoped he would try to _explain something_ , why he left or why he didn’t come in. It was a false hope, after waking the phone up there was nothing new on her screen, just a text from Claire asking how everything was going in the U.S. Sherry set her phone back down, not wanting to tell Claire what was going on right now, it might just make things worse. Instead, Sherry dragged her Chair to the window, sitting down and staring outside. Hopefully this way, she might come up with some way to help fix things between Piers and Chris.

**oOoOoOoOo**

            Sherry heard a banging on the door and woke up startled from her sleep, there was beeping all around her and she could hear people yelling in the hallway. She got up as quick as she could, running to the door and wrenching it open as a burst of thunder lit up the world right outside the hospital window.

_“Miss Birkin please step aside, we need to check on Agent Nivans his vital signs are spiking and we have no idea why!”_

            Sherry stepped to the side, gasping and hoping Piers wasn’t going into some kind of shock. She watched the doctors and nurses work furiously, trying to curb the rising pulse of his heart, the lowering response they were getting from his brain. Nothing seemed to be working, and the rain was starting to come down even harder. It was no longer the silent weeping of one or two people from heaven, it was now the downpour of an entire funeral service being held, heaven was calling back to her beloved soldier, it was time for him to come home.

            Sherry ran over to her phone and picked it up; it barely had any battery life left, maybe two minutes at the most. She was going to have to make this count, and just hopefully someone would pick up on the other end of the phone, someone that might want to make amends before it seemed like it could be too late.

            Sherry watched as she fearfully dialed the numbers on her phone, each number bringing an even higher sense of dread to her already overwhelmed soul. All of the machines started to slow down as the doctors worked, one of the doctors even sighed while they ran a hand through their covered hair. She looked at Sherry and walked over, motioning back to the machines.

_“We think… we think he’s just gone into some sort of coma but I mean we have no clue what could have caused something like this.”_

**_*I think I might know…*_** Sherry thought

            She took a deep breath and dialed the numbers a bit slower, hoping for all heaven that her phone lasted. She finally got every number in, pressing the button in and hearing the phone start dialing. She looked back outside, the rain was coming down even harder while lightning was making the world brighter than a new dawn in a darkened world. The wind started howling as well, seeming to speak from outside the building. _*We are calling him back.*_ the wind seemed to say, but Sherry steeled her nerves, this was one soldier that heaven would not be calling back before his time.

 **_*Come on Chris… pick up! Pick up the damn phone he might not have much more time, you_ ** _have **to pick up Chris, come on damn it!***_

 

 

**oOoOoOoOo**

            Chris ignored Sherry walking out of the hospital, but one thing he couldn’t ignore, was the look of pain he saw on Piers’ face before he turned away from one of his “problems.” Piers seemed to be able to read him easier than two people who have been joined in heart and soul for years. It seemed Piers knew what was going to happen before it ever did, and that broke him on the inside, broke him worse than the thought of Piers never being around again.

            Chris got into his truck and started it up, a light drizzle of rain starting all around him likes tears falling off the cheeks of angels at the thought of him leaving Piers behind. He drove home, traffic being gone now, and his heart seemed to fill up with lead more and more every second longer he drove away from the hospital. Chris sighed and kept his eyes dead ahead, kept them from facing and looking in the direction of the only “problem” he seemed to have in his life right now. He kept them forward, that is, until something caught his eye while he was driving by. That was when he turned around, turned around and kept his train of dread going, his vision focused on a spec of white out of the gloom.

            Chris pulled up closer, noticing it was a small white church, one that he had been seeing for years, and one that he passed every day of his life. He saw the yard, decorated with small white crosses. Chris swallowed at the possible idea, were these crosses, or were they grave markers for people that heaven had already beckoned her call to? But yet, Chris found something in this sight alluring to himself. He pulled into a nearby parking lot and turned his truck off. He climbed out, ignoring the downpour of rain that seemed to just get stronger and stronger, mourning to him from above. Chris walked up closer to the crosses, seeing little wooden forms of soldiers grasping them, seeming like they wished to hold them close to their hearts.

            Chris sighed, getting down on his feet, staring at each individual cross. Nothing seemed to stand out particularly, but then they all seemed unique in their own little way, not a single one of these crosses was exactly the same. Each and every single one of them seemed to carry their own story, their own mystery left for the world to discover, their own personal feelings that seemed to be buried in the ground. One cross caught Chris’ eye though, among the several dozen crosses, Chris saw one solitary cross with a red stripe around it. Then he remembered.

            This wasn’t just any Church, him and Claire knew this church all too well. Chris brought Claire he and they made a cross together, after their parents had passed away in that horrible accident, they put this here together. Chris let the rain beat down on him from above, lightning momentarily blurring his vision and blinding him. That was when he noticed a figure standing in front of him. There was an old woman that was smiling at him, it was a warm smile, one that somehow held understanding and compassion even if she may not know why he was here.

            The old woman bent down and took Chris’ hand, leading him inside of the church. When Chris walked inside he was amazed at what he saw, the church was old, that much was obvious, and it may not have had any actual people inside it for years. But this old woman… she still found it worth taking care of, maybe this held too many memories for her, good and bad, to just let it wilt away like a dying orchid before the rising moon.

            She led Chris over to a chair that was surprisingly made out of mahogany, for a place seemingly so old, it still held things that were quite beautiful. Her voice was even more comforting to Chris than the atmosphere and distinguishing features of the inside of the church.

_“Nobody has been here in years, but I can tell by the look you had on your face that you have been here before. Tell me young man, why do you seem to be so bothered tonight, a night when you should be with those who care for you or the ones you care for deeply, what is keeping you so far away from them?”_

            Chris sighed, letting his head drop a little, some random old woman no matter how kind she might seem, was not really someone he wanted to have this conversation with. She didn’t let him get far however, she took his head in her hand and lifted it up so he was looking her in the face. She seemed able to read him like a book, because she shook her head and somehow smiled encouragingly to him.

_“Child, why are you trying to run from your problems? Surely it is not as bad as you may think it is.”_

_“I… I…”_

            Chris started to speak but immediately choked on his words. He couldn’t face his problems, he’s never been able to do that easily, and trying to do it to a complete stranger? Impossible, there’s just no way he could tell her why he’s running away from his problems, even if she does seem capable of understanding it.

_“Child, everyone is equal in heaven’s eyes. No matter what you may have done, face your problems, do not let them consume you. Don’t let your life have a funeral to something before you were ever able to have a wedding with it, do you understand?”_

Chris nodded his head solemnly. _“I… I do… thank you ma’am…”_

She patted Chris on the shoulder, and for some odd reason, that touch felt familiar to him. _“Do not worry young man, I still remember the day you and your sister came here. It was so tragic… but the smallest possible things are what can begin the healing process. Go and visit your problem, deal with it, and then maybe you can finally feel the solace you are looking for.”_

            Chris smiled at her, the memory was finally coming back to him. A kind woman had invited them to make a cross to stick in the ground; she even gave them paint to make the red stripe with. Chris thanked her and gave the elderly woman a hug, determined for once to go back and face his problems and not run away, not this time.

            Chris walked out the front door of the church, a ghost of a smile returning to his face like the warmth of a long lost friend. Then he saw the little boy and girl again, they were definitely the same people but yet they were older. Then it hit him, he wasn’t seeing two random people, he was seeing himself and Claire when they were younger.

_“Chris… does it ever get better?”_

_His younger self put an arm around Claire’s shoulder. “Yeah Claire, don’t worry. It might take time, but it will always get better. It might get worse before it does, but it will **always** get better.”_

            Chris smiled at the memory, he was finally finding the strength he would need to go back. He walked back over to his truck, lightning dancing across sky as heaven seemed to be opening the flood gates to its heart, letting all of that rain down on the earth. When Chris got in and closed the door, he immediately heard his phone ringing from the floor of his vehicle where he had left it, he dashed his hand down and picked it up. Sherry was calling. He pressed the answer button and was almost afraid at the franticness of her voice.

_“Chris! Chris are you there, Chris answer me!”_

Chris was silent for a moment, almost afraid of her tone of voice before he answered. _“S- Sherry? What’s wrong, what’s going on?!”_

Sherry was almost crying. _“Chris! The doctors, Piers, he, they, just…”_

Chris started up his truck and hit the gas as quickly as he could. _“Sherry, calm down take a breath what’s going on?”_

_“It’s Piers! They don’t know what’s going on but for some reason all his brain function and his heart rate seemed to slow down a few hours after you left and they are trying to do what they can and I’m freaking out and they think he might die and just-“_

_“SHERRY! Take a damn breath calm down!”_

Sherry clamped her mouth shut and sucked in an air of breath. _“Chris. Please. Get over here. Now.”_

Chris took a deep breath, not wanting to believe what he mind find when he arrived. _“I’m on my way Sherry.”_

Chris didn’t hear a thank you from Sherry. _“Piers! Oh my god he’s –“_ and the phone cut out.

            Chris slammed on the gas, not caring about the road conditions from all this rain. It seemed to pour down harder and harder the closer he got to the hospital, the thunder roaring in his ears, the lightning dancing across the sky like cracks breaking in the ground. Chris pulled into the parking lot and didn’t even bother shutting his truck off, he just put it in park and got the hell out. He ran through the front of the hospital, ignoring the hospital staff and almost bursting into Piers’ room.

            The doctors were gone, Sherry was sitting next to Piers, holding his hand to her face and crying. She looked up at Chris as he came through the door, tears running down her face.

_“They… they took the machines out… he’s not completely got yet but they said they couldn’t do anything more for him his… his brain function and heart were just too far gone and… Chris what the hell do we do?!”_

            Chris looked at Piers, his heart almost breaking at the sight. His one eye was closed, but he could see a dried trail of tears running down from it into the bandages, a small piece of them soaked. Chris almost ran over to Sherry, staring at the empty look on Piers’ face. Chris kneeled down next to him and stared at him for a second. Sherry back up, Chris moved in closer and started rubbing his thumb in a slow circle on Piers’ hand, something Sherry had been doing every day and night for the last few weeks.

 _“Piers… I’m sorry please don’t go! I’m sorry I ran away from you… it wasn’t_ you _it was_ **me** , _please don’t go Piers. I need you, I need you more than I ever realized, please don’t leave us. I’m sorry I made you think you were a monster; I just couldn’t deal with the reminder of failing you, failing Finn, Jeff, Marco, Andy, all of them! Please don’t let me fail you like I failed them, you have to come back, Piers!”_

            Sherry watched as Chris tried saying dozens more things, anything to get Piers to come back. Nothing seemed to be working, it seemed like Piers might not be coming back to them, Heaven was calling for her soldier to return after all. Chris finally stopped talking, he let his head fall on top of Piers’ unmoving form. He moved up and put a small kiss on his forehead, one of Chris’ own tears falling off of his face and following the same trail the ones from Piers’ eyes had left. Sherry watched as the tear finished its own short and misbegotten journey and reached Piers’ bandages, staining them all over again.

Sherry gasped as she heard a shuffling and some movement. _“C-Captain? W-what are you d-doing here…?”_

Chris’ head shot up from the chair he was sitting in. _“P-Piers?”_

Piers’ hazel eye fixed its vision on Chris’ face. _“Yeah?”_

Chris almost jumped forward and gave him a hug. _“Piers! Oh my god I can’t fucking believe it right now you had us scared to death!”_

Piers grunted and look around and saw Sherry standing there too, tears running down her face while she smiled. _“What happened?”_

Sherry stepped forward and put a hand on Chris’ shoulder. _“The doctors… your brain and heart were slowing down and we thought… they thought… you were about to die.”_

_“Don’t you ever fucking leave me Piers do you hear me?!”_

Sherry could see a spark of happiness in the eyes that had held nothing other than sadness these past few weeks that were now beginning to feel like nothing more than a few moments. _“I wouldn’t dream of it Captain.”_

Chris got up and smiled, still rubbing his thumb in a slow circle. _“Alright then Piers, how about we go say out and say *Hello World,* **together**.”_

Piers smiled at Chris, and at Sherry, the one person who had been there for him every day since he got back. _“I’d like that very much Captain…”_

            Sherry smiled, the tears finally stopping and paving way to a growing smile. They may have come close, they may have seen a lot, but they still had each other. Sherry’s smile grew even bigger, at least these two could have a happier ending than some people did these days.

            Sherry looked out of the window, the lightning and thunder had stopped. A ray of sun was finally breaking through the parting clouds, shining straight through their window. Heaven finally stopped her call, and it was left unanswered, the voice mail saying *You have another chance, use it well.* Sherry smiled again, opening up all the curtains she could find.

_“Alright Piers, whenever you’re ready, we are **both** getting out of here.”_

Sherry didn’t see it, but she could feel the smile hidden behind the bandages on Piers’ face. _“Well… whenever they let me out, I’m right there with you Captain.”_

            Chris smiled, and Sherry could feel the happiness radiating from both men. Chris finally did it, and he couldn’t have done it a moment sooner.

**Chris was finally Facing the Truth.**


End file.
